From the previous article, we learn that diamond quality is mainly affected by the 4Cs, including clarity, cut grade, carat weight and color grade. Among these four factors, cut is regarded as the most important one to decide a diamond’s quality. This conclusion is mainly for round brilliant diamonds, and it does not apply to fancy color diamonds and fancy shaped diamonds.
Nowadays, people pursue more personalized styles, so round diamonds are no longer the only choice. Round diamonds take up about 75 percent of total diamond sales, and the rest market is occupied by fancy shapes. You may wonder what common fancy diamond shapes there are. They include marquise, oval, heart, pear, princess, emerald, triangle, cushion, radiant and asscher cuts.
Most people are familiar with round diamonds. A standard round diamond has 58 facets, while some are designed with 66 or 81 facets. Exquisite cutting skills and perfect symmetry can fully show the brilliant sparkle of a diamond. As for fancy shaped diamonds, you can roughly imagine their looks just from their names. Here is a simple introduction to each classic shape.
The marquise diamond gets its name for its eye-like shape. It is wider in the middle and narrow at both ends. This shape can gather light entering the stone well, so it has nice fire. Besides, it makes good use of the diamond’s weight, so a marquise diamond always looks larger than its actual carat.
Oval diamond is another popular shape. The best length-to-width ratio is 1.5 to 1. It is a great choice for ladies with small or short fingers, as it can make fingers look slimmer. In Western countries, it is favored by people who are creative and have unique tastes.
Heart shaped diamonds first appeared in ancient India. A standard heart diamond has 63 facets. Its ideal depth ratio is between 59% and 63%, with a 1:1 length-width ratio. Cutting a heart diamond requires extremely high skills from craftsmen.
Pear diamond looks just like a pear, and people also call it teardrop diamond. If you look carefully, you will find it combines the features of marquise and oval cuts. It is widely used for earrings and suits young ladies with a delicate figure.
Princess cut is very common too. It looks like a square covered with many facets, and it normally has 57 to 58 facets. This shape matches ladies who have steady and elegant temperaments.
Emerald cut diamond is in a rectangular form with cut corners, just like a stepped ladder. It can keep more weight from the rough stone. Its ideal length-width ratio ranges from 1.3 to 1.4. Even though it is not as shiny as round diamonds, its pavilion can create special light effects that other shapes cannot match.
Radiant cut is a square or rectangular diamond. It mixes the cutting styles of emerald and round brilliant, so people name it
radiant brilliant cut. It is popular among fashion lovers.
Triangular cut diamonds are usually made from flat rough stones. A standard triangle diamond keeps a 1:1 ratio, which helps it gain better brilliance.
When talking about Asscher cut diamonds, many people will think of Queen Elizabeth, who loved wearing this style a lot. Many people mix up Asscher cut and emerald cut. The biggest difference is that Asscher cut is square shaped.
Cushion cut has a classic and vintage style. It owns the advantages of both princess cut and round cut. It is often matched with small accent diamonds to make luxurious jewelry designs.
Why cut diamonds into fancy shapes?
Before cutting a rough diamond, jewelry analysts need to do detailed research. They mainly focus on two key points: getting the highest return on investment and ensuring good sales volume. Careful analysis before cutting is the key to maximum profits. Analysts also need to take other factors into consideration, such as color retention, weight retention, the original shape of the rough stone and the position of inclusions.
There is a famous saying that diamonds are a girl’s best friend. Everyone wants to buy a high-quality diamond at a reasonable price, so it is wise to pick diamonds with Excellent cut grade. James Allen has now
merged with Blue Nile. These two brands own a huge inventory of loose diamonds and update the information all the time. If you take time to select carefully, you will definitely find your ideal fancy shaped diamond.
Trick four is about your band width and extra side stones. Narrow thin band shanks are a great choice, or you can add a few tiny accent stones spread along the ring band. The slim metal part take less space on your finger, it will not compete for attention with your main diamond. When the thin band and small side stones work together to set off the center stone, they match perfectly and make your diamond stand out way more on your hand. People’s eyes will fall straight onto your main gem instead of the band, so the diamond naturally looks bigger and more eye-catching to anyone who sees it.